Exclusive: In yet another blow to troubled Research in Motion, one of the world's largest energy service corporations — Halliburton — plans to phase out thousands of employee BlackBerrys in favor of advancing its business via the iPhone and Apple's iOS platform, AppleInsider has learned.

"Over the next year, we will begin expanding the use of our mobile technology by transitioning from the BlackBerry (RIM) platform that we currently use to smartphone technology via the iPhone," the Houston, Texas-based firm told employees in an internal newsletter this month.

The move comes after "significant research" into both Apple's mobile platform and Google's Android operating system led Halliburton to "determined that the iOS platform offered the best capabilities, controls and security for application development." For Halliburton, supporting multiple platforms is not currently seen as feasible option.

The company, which also operates a second headquarters in Dubai, employees nearly 70,000 staffers for its oilfield service operations in more than 70 countries via hundreds of subsidiaries, branches, and brands. Its major business segment is the Energy Services Group (ESG), which provides technical products and services for petroleum and natural gas exploration and production.

As such, Halliburton is looking to iOS devices to provide employees with secure access to many of its internal applications from outside the company's network, exclusively through their iPhones. The demand for such flexibility was driven in part Halliburton's customers, who desire mobile data-access apps for their own iPhone platforms, according to people familiar with the matter.

The transition to iPhone represents a significant departure in IT technology policy for Halliburton, according to these same people. They say that Windows rules the desktop, while Macs are outlawed and Linux is actively frowned upon. And prior to this month's announcement, Windows Phones were the only alternative to BlackBerrys available to Halliburton management.

In fact, BlackBerrys have been a staple in Halliburton's pocket for more than 10 years. The initial roll-out of the smartphones began in company's legal department before spreading to almost all levels of management over the following years.

"Approximately 4,500 Halliburton employees currently have BlackBerrys," a spokeswoman for the company confirmed to AppleInsider. "We are making this transition in order to better support our mobile applications initiatives."

She added that Halliburton actively "engaged with Apple on this transition," which is slated to roll out in phases over the next two years.

The loss of a major client like Halliburton is only the latest example of RIM's downfall in the corporate world. Just last month, the company's co-CEOs and chairmen stepped down following the company's struggles to compete with Apple's iPhone and iPad, as well as the Google Android mobile platform.

RIM's new CEO, Thorsten Heins, told investors that he will not change the company's existing strategies for products like the PlayBook tablet, as well as the forthcoming BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system. Heins said RIM's recent struggles have been a result of "process execution" and marketing, as opposed to product innovation.

While RIM has languished in the enterprise market it once dominated, Apple has gained significant traction with both the iPhone and iPad. One report from last September declared that employee-owned iPhones in the enterprise are an "unstoppable train."

Apple has made it a point during its quarterly earnings conference calls to highlight adoption of iOS devices in the enterprise, particularly among major companies. In its last earnings report for the holiday 2011 quarter, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer noted that "nearly all" of the Fortune 500 now approve and support iPhones on their networks.

Business representatives indicated to The New York Times last November that Apple's rapid growth in the enterprise has been aided by the fact that the company has become "easier to work with." While late co-founder Steve Jobs disliked catering to business needs, it was said that the current CEO, Tim Cook, is "more at ease" in meeting with enterprise customers.

The move comes after "significant research" into both Apple's mobile platform and Google's Android operating system led Halliburton to "determined that the iOS platform offered the best capabilities, controls and security for application development." For Halliburton, supporting multiple platforms is not currently seen as feasible option.

Cool. I'm sure this will reinforce and reassure other corporate IT managers that they won't get fired for suggesting a switch to Apple. This is now a huge precedence.

Exclusive: In yet another blow to troubled Research in Motion, one of the world's largest energy service corporations — Halliburton — plans to phase out thousands of employee BlackBerrys in favor of advancing its business via the iPhone and Apple's iOS platform, AppleInsider has learned.

"Over the next year, we will begin expanding the use of our mobile technology by transitioning from the BlackBerry (RIM) platform that we currently use to smartphone technology via the iPhone," the Houston, Texas-based firm told employees in an internal newsletter this month.

Quote:

My job is NOT to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even BETTER.

Is this really that significant? The headline makes it sound like a major shift transitioning to iPhone, but.. The article says 'Haliburton will buying thousands of iPhones.... currently about 4,500 employes use RIM devices' . Less than 5,000? Apple must sell this many in a few minutes on a regular day.

Is this really that significant? The headline makes it sound like a major shift transitioning to iPhone, but.. The article says 'Haliburton will buying thousands of iPhones.... currently about 4,500 employes use RIM devices' . Less than 5,000? Apple must sell this many in a few minutes on a regular day.

I don't think the number of devices is as significant as the decision for the entire company to adopt the Apple ecosystem as a business model. If a company like Halliburton expresses this much confidence in Apple then that opens the door for many other corporations to follow suit.

Wow. That is a biggie.
I worked for Halliburton subsidiary a few years ago and it was really hard to get them to allow my HTC Windows phone to connect to their Exchange server. they have the largest non-military network in the world and all their machines run a really locked down Windows called COE (Common Operating Environment).
The upside was I could walk into any Halliburton office in the world and log on to my account.

I spoke with one of the guys I know who is still with them in Houston and he said Apple had been pushing hard but the big stumbling block was a global device - the iPhone 4S will have been the one that overcame that one.

Next up; Exxon and BP, followed by Monsanto, a couple arms dealers, Syria's government and Dr. Evil.

Enjoy your unethical stocks and profits - and don't worry about the whole 'you will reap just what you sow' prophecy... fake fiat monies are far more important then a planet capable of sustaining life.
Remember, it's all about you and how much you have. Fuck your neighbor, kill all foreigners, worship technology.

Apple - Think scorched earth.
(thanks to Halliburton - soon to have an app for that too)

Next up; Exxon and BP, followed by Monsanto, a couple arms dealers, Syria's government and Dr. Evil.

Enjoy your unethical stocks and profits - and don't worry about the whole 'you will reap just what you sow' prophecy... fake fiat monies are far more important then a planet capable of sustaining life.
Remember, it's all about you and how much you have. Fuck your neighbor, kill all foreigners, worship technology.

Apple - Think scorched earth.
(thanks to Halliburton - soon to have an app for that too)

Exactly. Is anybody forcing these hypocritical, whiny and useless people to buy Apple's computers or devices?

If they had any principles. pride or any sense of self worth at all, they wouldn't. As it stands now, they're merely full of shit.

As for me, I have zero problems with buying Apple's devices. My last Apple hardware purchase was 2 months ago and my next purchase will be in a few months when the new iPad comes out. I am tired of reading about hypocritical whiners, whining about Apple. These kind of people do not deserve to use any Apple devices.

the company I work for is now giving the iPhone 4s as an option to the blackberry, if you already have a blackberry then you cannot switch unless your BB is broken. you guessed it, mine broke and I got an iPhone. Seems more and more blackberry are breaking around here. as an employee, good for all that either get an upgrade to an iPhone or at least have the option to use one or the other.

Cool. I'm sure this will reinforce and reassure other corporate IT managers that they won't get fired for suggesting a switch to Apple. This is now a huge precedence.

It looks like MDM, security and provisioning were vetted as good to go for iOS. This is huge win for Apple. Halliburton is not the best of companies but few can match their logistics and distribution capabilities.

Next up; Exxon and BP, followed by Monsanto, a couple arms dealers, Syria's government and Dr. Evil.

Enjoy your unethical stocks and profits - and don't worry about the whole 'you will reap just what you sow' prophecy... fake fiat monies are far more important then a planet capable of sustaining life.
Remember, it's all about you and how much you have. Fuck your neighbor, kill all foreigners, worship technology.

Apple - Think scorched earth.
(thanks to Halliburton - soon to have an app for that too)

For consistently reinforcing my decision to put you on the ignore list!!!

Enjoy your class guilt, your entitlement jingoism, your desire to run the world into the ground for no effective improvement to the human condition. Fake ideals are far more important than real influence, than really making a difference. Remember, it's all about you, and what you believe. Not reality.

If you are going to insist on being an ass, at least demonstrate the intelligence to be a smart one

Halliburton changing, means there are some other big shoes are about to drop. By the time Ballmer gets out the little hats and party favors the party will be over, the ship will have sailed, and the fat lady sang.

"That (the) world is moving so quickly that iOS is already amongst the older mobile operating systems in active development today." — The Verge

I would imagine that this is a pretty security conscious company (i.e. -- they have a lot to hide), so the fact that they view iOS as more secure than Android is a nice endorsement.

The slippery slope for apple is fantastic on this. First the iPhone gets in, then it's a no brainer to allow the iPad in. Then if you want to develop any custom iOS apps, well, gee you need Macs for that... and then it turns out that those Macs aren't the evil things that the IT guys always told you... huh, what do ya know... suddenly there are more and more Macs. Awesome :-)